Macie Thomas: Kids with disabilities can do amazing things

Tuesday

Oct 1, 2019 at 2:00 AMOct 3, 2019 at 4:06 PM

Lily Kate was born Oct. 24, 2013, and until the second she was born nobody in my family knew that she was going to be born with Down syndrome.

Before she was born, the doctors offered my aunt the test that would determine whether she was going to be born with any complications or not. They decided that they would love the baby no matter what and declined the tests. Even in the previous ultrasounds when they should have been able to see any complications, none were found.

On Oct. 24 everyone was so excited to meet the new baby girl, then we found out that she had Down syndrome. I remember leaving volleyball practice in middle school, my dad telling me that she had Down syndrome and being so confused because I wasn’t educated on what that meant for her or us.

My family was excited that Lily finally made her appearance into the world, but at the same time we were scared to death because nobody knew what lay ahead or what Lily was going to have to go through. At only a couple weeks old, Lily had to go through her first very serious procedure, heart surgery. After her first surgery I started to realize how special she really was and that’s when I began admiring her and her fight.

Lily Kate has shown me that even kids with disabilities can still do amazing things. At only 2 years old, Lily Kate started learning sign language. It seemed as if she knew how to talk in sign language before she even knew how to speak.

Many times, when she wanted something, she would sign to her parents and they would know exactly what she meant. It amazes me that at such a young age she was learning something that would take me forever to pick up and tons of motivation to try to learn.

Many kids with Down syndrome are told that they aren’t going to be able to learn some of the things that “normal” kids learn and even if they do their learning is going to be delayed. I believe that Lily proved this claim false because at the age that many kids are just learning how to talk, she was learning how to talk in sign language and she did it with ease.

Lily is excelling in everything that she is doing. Lily has been taught to be respectful to others and how to communicate with other children. I believe that just because some kids may have Down syndrome it’s no excuse for people to automatically believe that because they may learn slower, they aren’t able to accomplish amazing things.

Growing up I always had a special connection with Lily Kate, and she’s always been my little sidekick. High-schoolers always get asked the question “Where are you going to school?” and “What are you going to major in?” And for me I never could really answer that question.

After many years of ignoring the people who told me I worked so well with kids and especially Lily Kate, I finally came to the realization that my calling was to be a teacher and hopefully one day a special education teacher. Lily Kate has changed my life by motivating me to major in special education.

I feel like there is a growing need for special education teachers and I believe that since I am able to connect with Lily Kate, I will be able to do the same with any kid with disabilities. Lily Kate influenced this decision greatly and I hope that one day I can help kids just like her.

Lily Kate has impacted my life in so many ways and she’s not finished yet. The most important thing Lily Kate has taught me is that not everyone is the same and it’s completely fine. Many times, we put a label on kids who can’t learn as fast as us or may look and act different than us but in all reality the kids that we put a label on have more in common with us than we tend to think

Every day I am learning more and more about Lily Kate and kids with disabilities, and I am forever grateful that I am able to say I know Lily Kate.

Macie Thomas lives in Chiefland and attends the College of Central Florida.

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